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Caudal Autotomy
Autotomy (from the Greek ''auto-'', "self-" and ''tome'', "severing", αὐτοτομία) or self-amputation, is the behaviour whereby an animal sheds or discards one or more of its own appendages, usually as a self-defense mechanism to elude a predator's grasp or to distract the predator and thereby allow escape. Some animals have the ability to regenerate the lost body part later. Autotomy has multiple evolutionary origins and is thought to have evolved at least nine times independently in animalia. The term was coined in 1883 by Leon Fredericq. Vertebrates Reptiles and amphibians Some lizards, salamanders and tuatara when caught by the tail will shed part of it in attempting to escape. In many species the detached tail will continue to wriggle, creating a deceptive sense of continued struggle, and distracting the predator's attention from the fleeing prey animal. In addition, many species of lizards such as ''Plestiodon fasciatus'', '' Cordylosaurus subtessellatus'', '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White-headed Dwarf Gecko
The white-headed dwarf gecko or painted dwarf gecko (''Lygodactylus picturatus'') is a species of ''Lygodactylus'' gecko widely distributed in Africa. One subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ... is recognized, in addition to the nominate one: ''Lygodactylus picturatus sudanensis'' Loveridge, 1935, the Sudani dwarf gecko. References Lygodactylus Reptiles of West Africa Reptiles of Cameroon Reptiles of the Central African Republic Reptiles of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Reptiles of Ethiopia Reptiles of Kenya Reptiles of Mozambique Reptiles of Somalia Reptiles of South Sudan Vertebrates of Sudan Reptiles of Uganda Reptiles of Tanzania Reptiles of Zimbabwe Reptiles of Zambia Reptiles described in 1871 Taxa named by Wilhelm Peters< ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Holaspis Guentheri
''Holaspis guentheri'', commonly known as the sawtail lizard or western neon blue-tailed tree lizard is a species of lizard occurring in Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic, Uganda, Angola, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Ivory Coast, Benin, and Togo. Etymology The species is named in honor of Albert Günther Albert Karl Ludwig Gotthilf Günther FRS, also Albert Charles Lewis Gotthilf Günther (3 October 1830 – 1 February 1914), was a German-born British zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist. Günther is ranked the second-most productive re .... References {{Taxonbar, from=Q882549 Holaspis Reptiles described in 1863 Taxa named by John Edward Gray ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iberolacerta Monticola
The Iberian rock lizard (''Iberolacerta monticola'') is a species of lizard in the family Lacertidae. The species is endemic to Portugal and Spain. Its natural habitats are mountain forests, shrubland, rivers and rocky areas. It is threatened by habitat loss. Description The Iberian rock lizard measures about from snout to vent with a long, slender tail twice as long again. It is somewhat flattened with finely boned, short limbs. The colour varies in different parts of its range. The general colour is a light brown/green color variously patterned with longitudinal bands of colour or longitudinal rows of dots and small patches. Unlike some other wall lizards, the stripe along the spine is less dark than other bands. Most, but not all, individuals have a distinctive green belly and the juveniles may have blue tails. A 2008 field study reported the underparts of Iberian rock lizards turn green with maturity, and the upperparts gradually turn green as the lizard ages further. Distrib ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Uta Stansburiana
The common side-blotched lizard (''Uta stansburiana'') is a species of side-blotched lizard in the family Phrynosomatidae. The species is native to dry regions of the western United States and northern Mexico. It is notable for having a unique form of polymorphism wherein each of the three different male morphs utilizes a different strategy in acquiring mates. The three morphs compete against each other following a pattern of rock paper scissors, where one morph has advantages over another but is outcompeted by the third. Etymology The specific epithet, ''stansburiana'', is in honor of Captain Howard Stansbury of the US Corps of Topographical Engineers, who collected the first specimens while leading the 1849-1851 expedition to explore and survey the Great Salt Lake of Utah. Taxonomy The systematics and taxonomy of the widespread and variable lizards of the genus '' Uta'' is much disputed. Countless forms and morphs have been described as subspecies or even distinct species. * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agama Agama
The common agama, red-headed rock agama or rainbow agama (''Agama agama'') is a species of lizard from the family Agamidae found in most of sub-Saharan Africa. To clear up historical confusion based on Linnaeus and other authors, Wagner, et al. (2009) designated a neotype (ZFMK 15222) for the species, using a previously described specimen from Cameroon in the collection of the Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig in Bonn. The species name was formerly applied to a paraphyletic collection of taxa, and mitochondrial DNA analysis of various populations indicates they represent separate species.Leaché, A.D. et al. (2009)Phylogeny of the genus ''Agama'' based on mitochondrial DNA sequence data.''Bonner zoologische Beiträge'' 56(4) 273-78., Consequently, three former subspecies '' A. a. africana'', '' A. a. boensis'', and '' A. a. mucosoensis'' are now considered separate species, and ''A. a. savattieri'' is considered synonymous with ''A. africana''. Description Its ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caudal Artery
The Caudal artery is the portion of the dorsal aorta of a vertebrate that passes into the tail. It is analogous to the median sacral artery The median sacral artery (or middle sacral artery) is a small artery that arises posterior to the abdominal aorta and superior to its bifurcation. Structure The median sacral artery arises from the abdominal aorta at the level of the bottom qu ... in humans. References External links External image Arteries {{Vertebrate anatomy-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sphincter
A sphincter is a circular muscle that normally maintains constriction of a natural body passage or orifice and which relaxes as required by normal physiological functioning. Sphincters are found in many animals. There are over 60 types in the human body, some microscopically small, in particular the millions of precapillary sphincters. Sphincters relax at death, often releasing fluids and faeces. Functioning Each sphincter is associated with the lumen (opening) it surrounds. As long as the sphincter muscle is contracted, its length is shortened and the lumen is constricted (closed). Relaxation of the muscle causes it to lengthen, opening the lumen and allowing the passage of liquids, solids, or gases. This is evident, for example, in the blowholes of numerous marine mammals. Many sphincters are used every day in the normal course of digestion. For example, the lower oesophageal sphincter (or cardiac sphincter), which resides at the top of the stomach, is closed most of the time ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vertebra
The spinal column, a defining synapomorphy shared by nearly all vertebrates,Hagfish are believed to have secondarily lost their spinal column is a moderately flexible series of vertebrae (singular vertebra), each constituting a characteristic irregular bone whose complex structure is composed primarily of bone, and secondarily of hyaline cartilage. They show variation in the proportion contributed by these two tissue types; such variations correlate on one hand with the cerebral/caudal rank (i.e., location within the backbone), and on the other with phylogenetic differences among the vertebrate taxa. The basic configuration of a vertebra varies, but the bone is its ''body'', with the central part of the body constituting the ''centrum''. The upper (closer to) and lower (further from), respectively, the cranium and its central nervous system surfaces of the vertebra body support attachment to the intervertebral discs. The posterior part of a vertebra forms a vertebral arch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crested Gecko
The crested gecko or eyelash gecko (''Correlophus ciliatus'') is a species of gecko native to southern New Caledonia. In 1866, the crested gecko was species description, described by a French zoologist named Alphonse Guichenot. This species was thought extinction, extinct until it was rediscovered in 1994 during an expedition led by Robert Seipp. Along with several other New Caledonian gecko species, it is being considered for protected status by the CITES, Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna. Taxonomy The species was first described in 1866 as ''Correlophus ciliatus'' by the France, French zoology, zoologist Alphone Guichenot in an article entitled "Notice sur un nouveau genre de sauriens de la famille des geckotiens du Muséum de Paris" ("Notes on a new species of lizard in the gecko family") in the ''Mémoires de la Société Scientifique Naturelle de Chérbourg''. It was later renamed ''Rhacodactylus ciliatus''. Recent phylogen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skin
Skin is the layer of usually soft, flexible outer tissue covering the body of a vertebrate animal, with three main functions: protection, regulation, and sensation. Other cuticle, animal coverings, such as the arthropod exoskeleton, have different cellular differentiation, developmental origin, structure and chemical composition. The adjective cutaneous means "of the skin" (from Latin ''cutis'' 'skin'). In mammals, the skin is an organ (anatomy), organ of the integumentary system made up of multiple layers of ectodermal tissue (biology), tissue and guards the underlying muscles, bones, ligaments, and internal organs. Skin of a different nature exists in amphibians, reptiles, and birds. Skin (including cutaneous and subcutaneous tissues) plays crucial roles in formation, structure, and function of extraskeletal apparatus such as horns of bovids (e.g., cattle) and rhinos, cervids' antlers, giraffids' ossicones, armadillos' osteoderm, and os penis/os clitoris. All mammals have som ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bone
A bone is a Stiffness, rigid Organ (biology), organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red blood cell, red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, and enable animal locomotion, mobility. Bones come in a variety of shapes and sizes and have complex internal and external structures. They are lightweight yet strong and hard and serve multiple Function (biology), functions. Bone tissue (osseous tissue), which is also called bone in the mass noun, uncountable sense of that word, is hard tissue, a type of specialized connective tissue. It has a honeycomb-like matrix (biology), matrix internally, which helps to give the bone rigidity. Bone tissue is made up of different types of bone cells. Osteoblasts and osteocytes are involved in the formation and mineralization (biology), mineralization of bone; osteoclasts are involved in the bone resorption, resor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cartilage
Cartilage is a resilient and smooth type of connective tissue. In tetrapods, it covers and protects the ends of long bones at the joints as articular cartilage, and is a structural component of many body parts including the rib cage, the neck and the bronchial tubes, and the intervertebral discs. In other taxa, such as chondrichthyans, but also in cyclostomes, it may constitute a much greater proportion of the skeleton. It is not as hard and rigid as bone, but it is much stiffer and much less flexible than muscle. The matrix of cartilage is made up of glycosaminoglycans, proteoglycans, collagen fibers and, sometimes, elastin. Because of its rigidity, cartilage often serves the purpose of holding tubes open in the body. Examples include the rings of the trachea, such as the cricoid cartilage and carina. Cartilage is composed of specialized cells called chondrocytes that produce a large amount of collagenous extracellular matrix, abundant ground substance that is rich in pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
